You get personalities out of the shop and all that’s left is the retail experience.

You need the crust of the human.

Scale necessitates the removal of personality.

Which means personality becomes a differentiator.

How long until we’re asked to measure return on attention and return on personality? And how will we do it?

via the Weird Studies podcast

Life gets better as you replace transactions with relationships.

-Kevin Kelly

So do brands and customer experiences.

Everything is customer service.

Here is my summary of a 1-Minute summary of a massive social media trends study for 2025.

• Instagram is more than stories & Reels, posts are making a comeback
• LinkedIn is (still) having a moment
• Pinterest is not for videos
• Facebook Reels aren’t dead yet

How much of the resilient consumer spending trend is due to buying before Trump’s Trade War increases prices?

Buying before the promised / threatened tariffs hit.

If a meaningful %, purchase pull forward + lower purchasing power from higher prices could mean a rough year (or more) ahead.

This ad read (not ad, just read) is great.

You can hear the bit of a laugh after the reality TV line and tell the actor had fun with that part, or at least gives us the impression of enjoyment.

It’s filled with personality in a way that doesn’t overshadow the messaging, but makes it memorable.